With a healthy crowd enduring changeable weather conditions at the Circuito Municipal Jorge Prado, the MXGP of Spain got underway today with Time Practice and the Qualifying Races keeping the fans hooked on the action around the popular Lugo venue in north-western Spain!
It was an amazing day for the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory teams as they took the victory in both classes! However, if anyone had correctly predicted the victor in the MXGP category then they could be considered a clairvoyant, for it came from a rider who has only once before scored points in a Qualifying Race in the premiere class: Jago Geerts!
Withstanding pressure from effectively the top two riders in the Championship and staying upright when others didn’t, the Belgian showed the sort of form that earned him 24 GP victories in the MX2 division, in a confidence-boosting ride that few could have seen coming.
New red plate holder Romain Febvre led briefly but had to settle for second place on his Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP machine, ahead of another Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider, Maxime Renaux.
In MX2 it was a third Qualifying Race win of the season for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s top rider in the series, Thibault Benistant, and he also coped with race-long pressure from the red plate holder, as Kay de Wolf marginally increased his points lead for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing with second place ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder.
With weather likely to be a factor for tomorrow’s GP races as well, the shocks of Saturday could well be repeated on Sunday, with many riders out for redemption around the wooded slopes of Lugo!
With the red plate freshly attached to his factory Kawasaki, Romain Febvre was clearly feeling good with it as he topped both Free and Time Practice sessions, and brilliantly for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, Pauls Jonass made it a 1-2 for the green machines with a time just two-tenths away from the Frenchman’s! Home hero Ruben Fernandez gave the local fans some hope with the third best time for Honda HRC.
However, that was as good as it got for the Spaniard, as he fell in the first corner of the Qualifying Race and suffered lacerations to his right arm in the crash. In a separate incident, both of the main Italian hopes hit the ground hard, as Fantic Factory Racing’s Andrea Bonacorsi was sent over the handlebars after hitting the rear wheel of Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX-Team rider Jeremy Seewer, and Mattia Guadagnini couldn’t avoid his countryman, putting the other Ducati onto the ground as other riders also came to a halt in the melee.
Firing into the lead from the 12th gate pick, however, was Geerts, his front wheel pawing the air for several metres and taking a clean Holeshot ahead of Seewer, Febvre, and Jonass! In-form rookie Lucas Coenen was initially fifth for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Before the pack reached the finish line to start the first full lap of the track, Febvre had shot past Seewer for second, while Jonass lost out to both Coenen and Renaux, dropping the Latvian to sixth.
It was then Seewer’s turn to lose two positions as Coenen ran him wide along the start straight and Renaux took the chance to also dive past the Swiss rider. With the rain driving onto the circuit to make the surface all the more slippery than it already was, Febvre immediately attacked the rear wheel of Geerts, who was enjoying his first laps in the lead of a GP race since moving up to the premiere class.
TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team rider Jan Pancar was initially in the top seven, but got shuffled down the order in the first three laps by the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Calvin Vlaanderen, then Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, and finally Glenn Coldenhoff, who would hold onto ninth for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP ahead of Pancar.
Vlaanderen moved up the field well, also passing Jonass on lap four, then Seewer on lap six. The Swiss veteran took sixth at the flag ahead of Jonass and Herlings, while Vlaanderen continued his good run of form by making it three blue bikes in the top five!
All eyes were on the fight for the lead, however, as Febvre was continually frustrated by Geerts, taking him until lap ten to work his way into a pass, done under braking on a downhill left-hander in the middle of the track! Coenen, who had been lurking since the early laps, then closed to the rear wheel of the Yamaha, and was looking at a move into the same corner when they both suddenly found Febvre on the ground in front of them.
Geerts held firm in the lead again, but the younger Belgian looked menacing at the start of the final lap until his front wheel slipped from under him at the end of the start straight! In his haste to remount he dropped the bike again, allowing both Febvre and Renaux through to take second and third.
Geerts was able to enjoy a fairly relaxed final lap with a ten-second cushion over Febvre, and punched the air in delighted relief that his long wait for success in MXGP had finally come to an end.
The result must surely encourage other riders that have been battling Jago down the field all year, that with a good start anything is possible in MXGP! Even though Febvre’s lead at the top has now stretched to 45 points over Coenen, tomorrow’s GP races should be massively entertaining for everyone watching!
Jago Geerts: “It was really crazy. I finally got a good start, took the holeshot and just led lap after lap. I felt really good. Febvre was pushing me, but I kept going. He passed me at one point but then had a small crash so I could take the lead again. Just super happy with this win after a tough time. I knew it was coming back, so it’s nice to see it now.”
MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 23:54.358; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.010; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.864; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:15.586; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:17.753; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +0:18.690; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:20.040; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:21.013; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:21.632; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:26.946
MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 339 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 305 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 294 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 252 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 225 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 223 p.; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 194 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 177 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 168 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 161 p
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen looked on fire with fastest times in both Free and Time Practice sessions to give the Holeshot master the first gate pick, although De Wolf was up next in second ahead of a great performance by Ferruccio Zanchi, third for Honda HRC. Rick Elzinga was also fast in both sessions for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.
Held in dry conditions to begin with, the MX2 Qualifying Race saw the Holeshot taken by title hopeful Laengenfelder, while Coenen banged bars with Benistant for second. The shorter rider came off worse in a collision which saw Coenen lose a hatful of positions in the third corner, so Benistant led Zanchi in their pursuit of the German out front.
It didn’t take the Frenchman long to find a line past Laengenfelder, pushing him wide at the end of the wave section, while De Wolf got to work from sixth place to pass the Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 machine of Mathis Valin, then Zanchi for fourth, before making a convincing pass on Laengenfelder, his biggest title rival.
The other big title threat to the reigning Champ, Andrea Adamo, was to have a shocking race by his standards, never able to advance from the mid-pack and finishing a frustrated thirteenth for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. His gap to the top has now nearly doubled, to 19 points heading into tomorrow’s GP races.
Spanish hope Guillem Farres was up to sixth early on for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but he dropped down the order at the end of the race, being passed for tenth on the last lap by Honda HRC’s Valerio Lata. Elzinga also dropped from sixth to an eventual ninth behind Farres’ teammate Camden McLellan. Van Venrooy KTM Racing teamster Cas Valk took another impressive result in seventh, following the charge of Coenen who eventually recovered to finish sixth.
While Laengenfelder endured a fairly solitary race in third, Liam Everts moved forward by leaping past Zanchi to take fourth on lap nine of 14. His Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate De Wolf pressured Benistant constantly for the lead, but finally made a mistake in one of the corners under the trees and had to settle for second. This result still extends his Championship lead over Laengenfelder to five points, but Benistant’s return to form made him the first rider this season, in either class, to win his third Qualifying Race of the year!
Be sure to join us tomorrow for what should be an enthralling day of racing in the lush forests of Lugo for the MXGP of Spain!
Thibault Benistant: “It’s quite nice to take a win again in qualifying. It hasn’t been so easy the last few races. I just needed to ride a bit freer. It wasn’t easy with the pressure from de Wolf because if you ride too defensive, you lose speed, and if you go too wide, it’s easy to get passed. So yeah, not an easy one, but nice to make it to the end.”
MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), 24:53.027; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:05.521; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:11.178; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:12.206; 5. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:24.211; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:34.247; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:36.756; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:39.248; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:47.254; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:48.496
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 337 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 332 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 318 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 276 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 235 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 227 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 213 p.; 8. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 193 p.; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 174 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 161 p.
MXGP OF SPAIN QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1550m
Type of ground: Dark Soil
Temperature: 11°
Weather conditions: Rainy
For more news check out our dedicated MXGP/MX2 News page
Or visit the official MXGP website mxgp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.mxgp.com
